| Show Corean Buddhism A Night In The DIKgc Buddhist Monnatdry of The K < net A Chad filth ide ChitrHitltlliK fSfl UU jtMtttA Milan of lafidtlt and SfMI fertffiHlMll Mill and HW Tiny 140 + Queer Cortan SuftnllHtniTIUtr fkinlt tttSn tlMi Alan dnean ait drtn Gild Their AiKUHmtnlt = = FDrar rorrrpedet 10a Naws Ce > ri < i > i UT Prank u Carpenter MM SPENT a I Tu night 1 last I spring In he a biggest Iludd Mil monastery ol Cores It w a t founded 1 t > I I eleven him i i i drcd year ago l and Corta had lluilil hlm I t while Japan was sllll wor e sir i P In g the sun gocMes of ShlntolimT The fact U that Japanese HudJIiUni came from Corea Tills was about five hundred years before be-fore Christ when one ol the Corean king cave a golden Buddha to the mikado lie popularized the religion and Japan was soon filled with Iludd him monks and nuns The religion became be-came popular and today Japan Is one of the great Iluddhlst countries of the world Corea on the other hand has sunken Into barbarism Ills the land of Infidels and superstitions The Iluddhlst religion which was soslrongln the past has fallen Into disgrace and until lately the priests were not allowed to come Into In-to the city of Scout There are no Buddhist temples In Seoul and there are not a great many over the country The chief center of religion Is In the eastern part of the peninsula and the monastery monas-tery which I lilted Is I one of the richest and largest In the world It had hundreds hun-dreds ol acres of forests connected with It i It owned vast estate and It had building or temples which made me think of those ol Japan It was made the Imperial monastery about one hundred hun-dred years before the discovery ol America The founder ol the present Corean dynasty was born near It and was taught by one of Its priests The result was that when he became king about five hundred years ago he favored this monastery lie gave It Imperial rank and Its priests have been getting fat olf of presents ever since This man planted tome trees along the road which leads to the temple and 1 rode through these on my way to the monastery monas-tery They are Immense pines almost two hundred led In height and opposite = = them stand stone tablets commemorating commemorat-ing this great monarch There Is an old prophecy In CorM which slate that the present uyiiMiy will be dllllraed In the fivehundredth year of lit age It 1 was Just five hundred years ago that thin king lived and the Corean rebels who have tried to break In lire government I govern-ment this year believe Dial they are carrying cut this prophecy and that the proem king will be the last of his line I HUNDREDS OF cellars I I found the country sum undine the monastery filled with priests They line the rusts they I are at work In the fields You ace them loafing In the woods and they fairly Harm about the temples 1 They wear yellow gowns and their hats are much like Inverted butler bonus They come down over their heads so that you Me only their noses and their chirm and Ihcy all walk with long staves They do not get much attention from the people and they are not respected as they are In other Iludd trial countries Those I met were densely den-sely Ignorant and It seemed to me they knew very little I about their religion They are very superstitious and I taw signs of this everywhere At the entrance en-trance lathe monastery there was n big gale and on each side of this mood a row of totem sticks carved 1 with 1 11 hideous I faces like those which you find outside ol each Cotcin tillage I These are supposed CIev guard f against evil I spirits and they aid Iluduiu In protecting pro-tecting hit own Uo pasted through Iheni 1 and went for several mile along Jort a well kept r road through a beautiful pine forest the grass of which was studded wigs I 1 dowers Along one tide of the road a mountain torrent rushed oer a ragged rock singing the praises of Buddha as It pushed Its way toward the tactile ocean On the other side hills rose almost like mountains and the ride was one ol the most plclurestiuc I that I ndnl In omTh forests belonging 1 be-longing lathe establishment ore beautifully 1 ID1 aw fully kept and tome parts of the grounds make you think ol on English park rather than one ol the wildest sections of one of the most backward countries on the globe There were rustic bridges In templelike resting place here and there on the way Now and then we passed n cemetery filled with tablets In mtmory of the holiest monks of the past and all of our surroundings were filled with the beauties ol nature KLicrmu WITH TUG uoiix Some ol the gorgeous priests their butter bowl hats met my party at the wd gate and General Iak my Interpreter Interpre-ter tent our servant along in advance with my letter of Introduction I from the King 1 Cores hllI orders to en chief I priest to prepare a proper entertainment for me When we arrived at the temples tem-ples however Iak found they were coins to put us In a small I room this IJ 5jna Hid not lull him at nil and he ld me through court alter court until we came lo the biggest temple of all 1 stalked JII lallnlIIh with stately read right I Into this and spoke In grandiloquent j tone lo the crowd of priests lying about Ile seal lered them this way and that and we lOOn had a hundred monks flying about trying lo fix up the place I for my reception recep-tion The room was one hundred feet squire and among those In It at the JllOa mrc ea time we came were fifty priests who were eating heir supper General talc moved them GP to one tide I and then ponied to n place near the wall He l told me Hut It was there that I was lo tpcnd the night My resting place was right under I a big golden statue of handing In front of which bowl ol Incense In-cense were burning The room was twenty feet In height and great lantern hung from the ceiling There were drums and gong here and there for the waking up of the gods before praying to them and there were matt Mattered about upon which the priests slept later on A TALK WITII TIIR CHIEF MUST While we were getting dinner the chief priest the highest Iluddhlst In Corea came down lo see me lie was a man about fifty with a head as bald as bald ass billiard b NI and a completion like that of a weli beaten drumhead drum-head He wo withered and wrinkled but his little black eyes twinkled out of their buttonhole slits and he Wk affable and pleasant lie I squatted on his heels on the floor for a time and then upon my asking I him to take dinner with me I Fo1 iI he tat down crosslegged and we discussed dis-cussed matters while our aged rooster was cooking I had a good variety of wines with me and I offered the chief priest glass olchampagnu At first he refuted but upon General I Iak telling tell-ing him It was not like Corean liquor he gulped down great swallows rubbing rub-bing his stomach the white astheipark ling liquid sent a warm glow through his veins The truth Is he finished the bottle right there and General Ijk made him n present of It There Is no glass In Corea and the chief priest considered con-sidered this a magnificent gift lie bumped his head on the matt before me In response to It and after this there was nothing In thin whole I establishment rcrlol he did not offer to us blli I asked him tome questions about his religion lie old mo that Buddhism came Into Corers from China and that about boo years after Christ tin first Iluddhlst monks came from that country I spoke lo him about the revival of his religion In Japan and of the movement which It there on loot to tend lluddhlsl mlstlon arles to Corea In order In bring luck the country to Us old 1 faith but he did not teem to have much Interest In the matter and he was more Intent upon watching the getting ol the dinner than In talking ol Iluddha lie ale with ooden chops tlckrand he eemedto like my rice unit chicken soup very much As soon as we were through as politely I at postisle I signified to him that I would like to lie down and be at rest I had been riding since six oclock In the morning on a taaor backed pony overa very rough road and 1 was almost llred out The Coreans do not use bed Night clothes I are practically I unknown and the most of ep people sleep on the bare floors which are as hard as stone General Pak had Irow ever slot ol old 1 rice bags brought Into the temple and spread out on the floor I supposed l they would clean out the hundredodd monks who were In the temple and give me a chance to cheep alone and ll waited some lime for Ihim to move They gave no signs I of doing to lnl aljlast In despair I asked General Iak fur a screen He brought half a dozen and with these we made a little fence about my rice bags and undressing I wrapped wrap-ped mvsell In my blanket and lOon dropped off lo elect A M1DVIIIIT SKRkNADE About midnight I was awakened by a horrible dm A hundred gongs were sounded Two score of bell ware ringing and there were the beating of drums and the clapping of hands and a JIdoll JI r g pounding of one piece ot wood upon another I rose to my feet and looked over the screen About thirty monks were still sleeping and forty others were trolling here and there through the temple on their way to prayers A brawny print was pounding on a gong near my head and another was ringing 1 lrZ hed dol iU thou a bell at the foot of my bed I stood and looked 1 on for there was no use trying to sleep nnml such noise This 1 1 lip hnnt lasted nearly an hour and then the priests slowly returned their cuddled up position on the fl jor and the Corean snore look the place ol the gong and the bells I went back lo my rice bigs and had Just dropped ofT to sleep when i the gongs and bells begun again I looked at my watch It wns 4 a m and the day was Just dawning The morning prayers bad Just begun and this effectually slopped further rest AUONU Till NUN After breakfast I took walk over the moncstry and I met a number of the lluddhist nuns These were the craw llesttcrapplestKraf women I have ever seen Their heads arc shaved and the women I saw had facet at wrinkled AI the leather ol an alligator satchel and they made me think ot the Idiots I have seen in our stale asylums They live apart from the monks In quar rr rrI 1 lees of heir own and they are mile 1 respected I by the > eo > le I found none ot the highclad Corcant had much to do with the monks or he prints and they were looked upon more as a set of ignorant drones than anything else Tile monasteries are travel resorts of the people and many excursions are taken to visit them more to admire the beau tlfut scenery by which they are aurc JncranbY cl relre Ihe Coreans are fond of the beauties of nature on every fine day you may see scores of them wandering through the hills about Ilid Corean capital and willing I verse and poetry Inspired by t alr the sight rWh the trees are in I flower they Into picnic under them and the beautiful parks of the country are as well known ns those ol Switzerland are known to Kuropc The gentlemen often I have poetry parties at which they j compete with each other I In writing verse on the spur of the moment certain subjects mid they are very strict In matter ol enqueue More ol them believe In Conluciu than In anything else and their culture you know all I comet from China urej just outside ot Seoul there Is a massive Buddha carved out of stone with a little temple above iI but It has few worshipers and the only temples In the Corean capital are Confucian JUIEK CORIIAN ISKsrillONH I found the Coreant superstitions in the extreme I and orfa I lur evidences of this every where The trees which wo pasted at the loot of the mountains had piles of Hone about Hum and General Gene-ral Iak always picked up another stone and threw U on the pile lie told me that In those trees lived the gods ol mountains and that If we did not Ih them honor by giving them a stone they J kbYuIV allbo J would work ui great harm Nearly I every house had a magic charm tied about It In order to keep out the spirits I lrlr lr lr ZI Y caged and professional sorcerer are called In r at funerals vj drive off Ilia demons These are usually old women who hate a very curUus dance and who whirl about In the street lor hour In order to keen oil the Vo I taw several table rocks on my trip across the country coun-try which are used for sacrifice In time ol epidemics and one Immense atone of tills eJ kind I utO twenty feet r square I was told 1 saved the country from smallpox The Coreans believe In astrology They have their lucky days and Ilielr unlucky days and they think that the spirit hover about then INI and work them I good or evil At the crossroads I often saw straw elhgles which I was told has been made by men as a guard against evil diseases In such straw men are hidden piece ol money and the party who make them icy a prayer over them asking Hut Ihey be delivered from all diseases and misfortunes the next twelve mon hs They then give them to tine boys who tear them to pieces lo find the money The more the figure Is I torn the greater the cfhcacy of the charm The Coreans consider nine to be a lucky number and they have all kinds of ram prophets and dream signs COR FAN CllllDBEN I found many boys In this big Corean monastry Ihey were studying lo be priests and the chlel piles took four of them and posed them In order that I might have their pictures taken They were bright little I lellowi and they went over the prayers fl Iluddha quite glibly not knowing what they mean The children lorm one of the most Interesting Interest-ing fcuturit of Lorej They are bright and gaud natured and very point They tagged at my heels wherever I went and gave the chlel amusing feature feat-ure ot the whole trip In summer children under six wear little more than a little jacket which comet just down below the armput They eat great quantities of raw turnips and pumpkins and the whole ol baby Corea may be said to be potbellied The children have all kind games and they delight In the llylug of kites Their kites are made Uilleicnlly from ours They are square In shape with a hole as big around as a tin cnp In the middle Tiny let out the string by a reel and they have kite lights They use great skill In this amusement and two rival kite will fight like live thing hundreds of feet in the air Bach 1 ono of the I fighters tries to entangle the other kites tu break their string and Crag them I down to the ground Tim greatest kite IIIng time is during the New Year holidays and the men as well as the buys have their kites UAMIILINU IN CORRA The Coreans are fond ol gambling but the law provide that there shall be nu gambling except at funerals and then only among the friend ot the da ceased ° 1 Ills makes the dead man cry popular and nil who have any claim whatever lo IrienUihip or relationship with him appear at the funeral The ceremony usually lasts for days and Is a kind ol across be wren the African hoodoo bow and an Iruh wake CORFAN CRAVES Graves In Core are quite as Important Import-ant as they are In China Every family has Us burying ground and the dead are carrie lor innu m order thai they may be laid with their kind Lee monument are usually round mounds of rrllhnt the bigger the man the rg ern bigger the mound A rich man will I often lake a wholu hill to himself and the cemelnes are usually located on the side ol huts Peen a man diet hired mourners are called In and these wall as they burn the clothing of the dead They uo this at night lathe street In the front ol the door The funerals Seoul have lo pass out of certain eaten I of the J aoh oJu city and must go through Just at dusk The result I Is that they go to the grave on a run for If they I do not arrive l there In lime they will have lo squat do nand n-and wall till the gates open In the morning Such funerals are always accompanied ac-companied by men and there Is danc > Ing and merrymaking on the way I taw a number during my stay In Seoul and there teemed to be more rtjulcinir than grid My next letter will be the last on Corea U will describe my trip to the harbor of Gensan whence I went tu Siberia and will show tome queer un known features ol the hermit king yam mq I t1 |
